Imperial Tobacco FD steps down after more than 25 years

IMPERIAL TOBACCO'S finance director Bob Dyrbus has announced his plan to retire from the company this year.

Dyrbus (pictured) is currently the longest-serving finance director in the FTSE 100, having joined Hanson – which merged with Imperial Tobacco in 1996 – as FD in 1989, according to Accountancy Age's sister publicationFinancial Director's FTSE 100 special.

After graduating from Bristol University in 1974, he worked his way up the ranks of Deloitte, Hertz Europe and Colgate Palmolive. Dyrbus started his career with Hanson as financial controller for Imperial-Ever-Ready and Allders, taking the FD spot in 1996.

Iain Napier, chairman of Imperial Tobacco, said: "On behalf of the board and our employees, I would like to thank Bob for the huge contribution he's made to our success.

"As well as taking overall responsibility for the effective financial management and control of the group for many years, Bob's played a key role in expanding our international operations through acquisitions that have created significant value for our shareholders."

The process to appoint a successor is already underway and a further announcement will be made in due course. Dyrbus will stay with the company following a handover period.

Imperial Tobacco also announced Mark Williamson will take on the deputy chairman role at the business. Williamson was previously CFO of International Power and is a non-exec of the National Grid and chemical business Alent.